


Together

by stjarna



Series: Season 4 - Coda Challenge [8]
Category: Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. (TV)
Genre: Angst, Angst with a Happy Ending, Coda Challenge, Coda Challenge @The FitzSimmons Network, F/M, Gen, Post-Episode: s04e06 The Good Samaritan, Tumblr, Tumblr: thefitzsimmonsnetwork, mini-hiatus challenge
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-11-16
Updated: 2016-11-16
Packaged: 2018-08-31 10:14:20
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 2,476
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8574355
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/stjarna/pseuds/stjarna
Summary: Written for The "Season 4, Episode 6 - The Good Samaritan" Coda Challenge organized by The Fitzsimmons Network and for the Mini-Hiatus Challenge organized by overworkedunderwhelmed on Tumblr.Summary in the Notes section, as additional spoiler protection for those who have not seen the episode.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Summary: Coulson, Fitz, and Robbie are trying to figure out what happened to them (well, mainly Fitz is trying to figure it out). But things aren't looking good, although Coulson's not willing to give up. [Man this summary sucks!]

The wave hits him. Everything gets brighter and darker and strange. When it’s over, he tries to examine the console in front of him only to see his hand reach straight through the surface. It leaves him shell-shocked. His mind starts racing and yet he can’t formulate any clear thoughts. The door flings open and Mack, May, and a swat team storm in. He’s excited to see them. Until they walk right through him and leave the room as quickly as they had entered. That’s when it slowly sinks in. He isn’t sure what exactly sinks in, but it’s not good. It takes him a while before he even attempts to see if he can leave the room. But yes, the door disappears in front of him and just like that he stands in the hallway, looking left, right. No one.

He knows the energy wave or whatever it had been must have come from the room where Lucy Bauer had set up the experiment. He heads in that direction but stops when Mack, May, and their team turn around the corner, walking towards him down the long corridor.

“The sensors didn’t pick up a damn thing. They’re gone. How are we going to explain this to Simmons? We don’t even know what killed them,” Mack says, his voice defeated and sad.

“I’ll tell her,” May replies sternly as she walks right through Fitz. He could swear he saw tears in her eyes.

_Dead. They think I’m dead. Wait. Them? Who else?_

* * *

“Fitz!” Coulson says, relieved, when Fitz walks through the door to the laboratory. It’s a strange feeling, and yet Fitz’s already getting used to it. Robbie Reyes is standing next to Coulson.

“What the hell happened?” Fitz exclaims, throwing his arms in the air.

“Eli Morrow,” Coulson explains. “Lucy Bauer may have taken him here to bring her back, but turns out he wanted to come here all along for his own purposes. He wanted to finish whatever he started back in the day. He disappeared before May and Mack showed up here.”

“Goddammit,” Fitz yells in frustration. “How is it possible that every bloody evil dimwit on this planet can make a bloody fool out of S.H.I.E.L.D.? How come we never notice when we’re being duped?”

“Fitz,” Coulson interjects. “I’m not sure this is a problem we should focus on right now. You know, maybe more about the what happened to _us_ and why May, Mack, and an entire swat team just walked in here without seeing us or, you know, _this_?” Coulson waves his hand through one of the lined up boxes.

“Best guess is we’re in a different dimension,” Fitz replies.

“I thought the fourth dimension was time?” Coulson asks.

“I said _a different_ dimension,” Fitz answers grumpily. “Not the fourth… We should try to find Lucy Bauer. She seems to be stuck somewhere between where we are and our own dimension, she might be able to communicate with the others.”

“I killed her,” Robbie states matter-of-factly.

Fitz slumps his shoulders. “Of course you did.”

“I didn’t believe her when she said it had been my uncle all along,” Robbie defends himself.

“Yeah, well, unfortunately she was right about that,” Coulson comments.

Coulson and Robbie stand in silence for a moment while Fitz paces anxiously, stemming his hands on his hips, trying to allow his mind to figure out the situation.

“Why don’t we fall through the ground?” Robbie asks suddenly.

Fitz turns to face him, his mind angry, frustrated, and impatient. “Probably our bloody will power,” he snarls, pressing his fingertips against his temples. “I don’t know. I’m no expert on other dimensions.”

“Then who is?” Coulson asks, trying to remain focused.

“ _No one_ ,” Fitz exclaims, throwing his hands in the air again. “No one’s a bloody expert. It’s all _theory_. There’s a bunch of _theoretical_ experts out there and we’ve probably proven forty and disproven ninety theories right now, and they have no clue, because they don’t even know this has happened!”

“Fitz,” Coulson interjects. “ _This_ isn’t helping.”

“Then what do you suppose _is?_ ” Fitz counters angrily.

“Keeping our heads straight,” Coulson replies sternly.

“We’re invisible! Untouchable! None of their sensors picked us up! They think we’re _dead_!” Fitz cries out, jabbing the fingers of his right hand into his left palm with each phrase.

“Maybe we are,” Robbie mumbles quietly.

“I don’t think there would be so many arguments,” Coulson says, turning to Reyes. “More … inner peace.”

“Maybe we’re in hell,” Robbie counters.

“I wouldn’t expect Fitz to be here then. Plus, more pain, agony, and… _again_ … not so many arguments,” Coulson replies.

“I’m glad you’re still enjoying yourself,” Fitz barks at his former director.

“Fitz. I know this is not ideal,” Coulson says calmly.

“Ideal?” Fitz yells, trying to kick one of the consoles. His foot goes straight through it. “Bloody hell! Is there no fucking way to get my _fucking_ frustrations out?” He runs his fingers through his hair, pulling hard. But there’s no pain, no feelings, no sensation at all.

“Fine,” Coulson replies a little louder. “Keep yelling. Keep cussin’. Get it out. But sooner or later, I will need you with a clear head, Fitz, because you’ve listed a bunch of things that are not in our favor right now, but _you’re_ the scientist here, and _you’re_ our best bet at figuring out a way to communicate with them or at least somehow make them notice us.”

Fitz is breathing heavily, but he can’t feel the air entering his lungs. He knows he has tears in his eyes, and yet they’re not there. Nothing makes sense. It’ s all different and yet the same.

Quietly he nods.

“Good,” Coulson says. “I suggest we stick together as much as possible and restrict ourselves to this room and the control room, where I assume _you_ were when this happened. Let’s stick to the places where people would be most likely to search for us!”

Fitz exhales sharply, throwing his head back. “They might not come back. This whole place might flood sooner or later, or if they try to get the systems back up.”

“Then why don’t we leave?” Robbi asks. “I’ve died once. I’ve sold my soul to the Devil. I’m not too keen on it all ending drowning in another dimension or some shit like that.”

Coulson shakes his head. “It doesn’t make sense to leave. Where would we go? We need to stay where they can find us and… Fitz?… Fitz?… Where are you going?”

Fitz walks to the door while Coulson speaks. “I’ll be right back. Stay here!” he says before stepping through the door. _Why am I even still using the door?_

He heads down the corridor to the stairs and stops in front of them. _Come on, come on, come on_ , he pleads and lifts his foot over the first step. But his foot sinks right through the metal. _Dammit!_

Panting anxiously, he stares at the granite wall in front of him and walks right through it. But while he can penetrate the concrete, he’s hit by another wall: the earth’s stratum. He retreats until he’s back in front of the stairs. He turns around and slowly walks back to Coulson and Robbie.

“Wanna explain where you just went?” Coulson asks him, slightly annoyed. “What happened to my idea of sticking together?”

“Well,” Fitz sighs. “I think I have a theory about why we don’t fall through the ground.”

“Go ahead,” Coulson encourages him.

“Whatever we’re stuck in… it’s limited,” Fitz begins.

Both Robbie and Coulson just shrug their shoulders.

“The wave that came from the chamber and hit us radiated in a horizontal plane. And whatever effect it had seems to have a defined height. Roughly floor to ceiling. I can’t penetrate the natural stratum, so that suggests that _maybe_ it contains some of the metallic elements that were in the alloy that make up the lining of the boxes.”

Robbie and Coulson still look at him in confusion.

“We’re trapped to the lower level.” His voice is defeated. He has no anger left. “We can’t get up the stairs. We can’t leave, even if we wanted to. We’re stuck on this plane. And _they_ think we’re dead. They have _no_ reason to even come back here and look for us.” Fitz drops his head.

“Funny you should say that,” Coulson says, and when Fitz looks up, he sees his former director smiling.

“Funny?” Robbie asks, confused. “I think I missed the joke.”

“Not too long ago,” Coulson begins, looking directly at Fitz. “One of our most brilliant scientists got swallowed by a stone and no one knew what happened. And most people sooner or later assumed she was dead. Except _one_ person. Another brilliant scientist, who wouldn’t take no for an answer.” He pauses, not taking his eyes off Fitz, who’s fighting back tears. “And he was _right_. And he got her back,” Coulson continues. “And if I know Jemma at all, then she’s not gonna stop either until she knows exactly what did or didn’t happen to us. I put my trust in her. And _when_ she comes here, I want to be prepared.” He points at Fitz. “So _you_ have to figure out as much as you can in the meantime, because once _we’ve_ figured out a way to communicate with them, or _they_ figure out a way to communicate with _us_ , Jemma will need _your_ help as much as we need hers. Don’t give up, Fitz. That’s an order, understood!”

All he can do is nod. _  
_


	2. Chapter 2

He’s back in the control room, staring once again at every single button and switch, as if somehow this time they’d give him the answer. His hand reaches out, trying to touch them, as if somehow today would be different. But just like every time before, his fingers disappear between the metal coverings without touching anything. He’d been doing it daily for nine days. The nine longest days of his life, since Jemma had returned from Maveth. Coulson and Robbie were by the chamber, probably talking baseball, like they’ve been doing for the past two days, ever since discovering they shared that particular hobby.

He swirls around when the door suddenly opens. His heart, which he hadn’t felt in nine days, stops when he sees her entering the room, wearing a hazmat suit.

“Set up the devices there, there, there, and there,” she says pointing at four opposite points within the room. The two agents following her quickly set down the silver metal cases they are carrying, open them, and retrieve four tripods with what appears to be modified neon tubes attached to them.

“I’ll calibrate everything myself,” Jemma says sternly, standing by the main console on which she has placed a laptop. “You can go and join Dr. Radcliffe’s team.”

“Yes, Ma’am,” the agents reply in unison and leave her behind.

Fitz keeps staring at her. Slowly his numbness fades and he takes a few steps closer to her. She’s looking at the screen, typing vigorously.

Then she exhales sharply and looks up, directly at him. Except he knows she can’t see him.

“Please, please, please, please,” she whispers. “Please be here, Fitz.”

“I’m here, Jemma,” he exclaims, reaching out for her, tempted to touch her and yet unable to. “I’m right here.”

Her eyes wander across the room, searching for a sign from him. “My best theory right now—and Radcliffe agrees—is that the three of you have become stuck in another dimension, in an unobservable quantum state, out of phase with visible light. Just like what you noticed inside the box we examined at the lab.”

“Exactly,” Fitz replies excitedly. “That’s my theory, too. I _knew_ you would think that. Of course you would.”

“So by using light outside of the visible spectrum and reversing the phase,” she continues talking to her empty room. “We will try to at least _prove_ that you’re here.” He notices that her hands are trembling. “So, please, please, please, be here Fitz. Please, be here. You _have_ to be here. Please.”

She looks down at her screen and clicks her trackpad. The four neon tubes in the corners of the room begin to glow.

Her eyes widen when she looks up.

“Fitz?” His name escapes her lips like a weak breath.

“You can see me,” Fitz exclaims happily. “You can see me!”

“Fitz,” she repeats. Her hands within the thick protective suit reach in his direction. “Tell me that’s you. Please, tell me that’s you.”

“You can’t hear me,” Fitz mutters to himself. “Of course not.”

Quickly he points at himself, then his ear, then at her.

Through the clear plastic of her visor he sees a faint smile flash across her face.

He raises his hand, folding down his ring and middle finger, only leaving his pinky, index, and thumb extended.

Her body starts shaking, somewhere between a laugh and a sob. “Fitz,” she exclaims, her gloved hands trying to reach for him even more feverishly. “Oh Fitz. I love you, too. I love you, too.” She tries to catch her breath. “Finally the ASL classes we took for extra credit that everyone teased us about are paying off,” she laughs. “Oh Fitz, Fitz. You can hear me! You’re here!”

He nods, his hand frozen in the shorthand _I love you_ sign, beaming an invisible smile at her.

“Jemma. Come in,” her radio interrupts them.

She quickly picks up the device lying next to her laptop. “Yes, yes, Agent May.”

“We have two people visible here in the room,” May’s voice can be heard. “Do you have—”

“Fitz,” Jemma interrupts her. “Fitz is here.”

“Are you sure it’s him?” May asks. “We have no way of communicating with the two here.”

“Yes, absolutely,” Jemma confirms. “We’ve figured out a way to communicate. Sign language. It’s him,” she says, smiling widely. “The other two must be Agent Coulson and Robbie Reyes.”

She looks back up to him, and Fitz nods to confirm her theory.

“Yes,” Jemma laughs into the radio. “Fitz is nodding. It’s them.” She’s breathing heavily. “May! We found them!”

“ _You_ found them,” May replies. “If I’m interpreting his wild gestures correctly, then Radcliffe’s suggesting you all come to the chamber room.”

“Yes,” Jemma replies. “We will. See you in a bit.”

She ends the radio transmission and looks back at Fitz.

“You _can_ get to the chamber room, right?” she asks hesitantly.

He nods.

“Alright,” she says, her eyes beaming with joy and love. “Let’s move on to Phase 2… Figuring out how to get you guys back.”

Fitz presses his fists together, his thumbs resting on top. Then he makes a little circle as if he’s stirring invisible cake batter.

Another smile flashes across Jemma’s face. “Yes,” she nods. “Together!”


End file.
